Chapter 6. Working for Your Employer After Injury

Chapter 6. Working for Your Employer After

Injury

After a job injury, staying at work or returning to work safely and promptly can help in your recovery. It

can also help you avoid financial losses from being off work. This chapter describes how you can continue

working for your employer.

Can I stay at work or return to work, and what work can I do?

After you are hurt on the job, many people work with you to decide how you will stay at work or return to

work and what work you will do. These people include:

? Your primary treating physician;

? Your employer (supervisors or others in management);

? The claims administrator;

? Your attorney, if you have one.

For tips on how to keep

your claim on track, see

p. 9. See also Chapter

10.

Sometimes doctors and claims administrators do not fully understand your job or other jobs that could be

assigned to you. Therefore, it is important that everyone stay in close touch throughout the process. You

(and your attorney, if you have one) should actively communicate with your primary treating physician,

your employer, and the claims administrator about:

? The work you did before you were injured;

? Your medical condition and the kinds of work you can do now;

? The kinds of work that your employer could make available to you.

What happens while I am recovering?

Soon after your injury, the primary treating physician examines you and sends a report to the claims

administrator about your medical condition. If the doctor says you are able to work, he or she should

describe:

? Clear and specific limits, if any, on your job tasks while recovering. These are called ¡°work restrictions.¡±

They should be based on full and accurate information from you and your employer about the

activities and demands of your job. They are intended to protect you from further injury.

Example: No lifting over 50 pounds at any time. No lifting over 30 pounds more than 10 times per

hour. No lifting over 30 pounds more than 15 minutes per hour.

? Changes needed, if any, in your schedule, assignments, equipment, or other working conditions while

recovering.

Example: Provide headset to avoid awkward positions of the head and neck.

If the doctor reports that you cannot work at all while recovering, you cannot be required to work.

To review the steps you can take if you disagree with a medical report, see Chapter 4, pp. 15-17 and 20.

26

Workers¡¯ Compensation in California

Chapter 6. Working for Your Employer After Injury

If You Can Work with Restrictions

If your primary treating physician reports that you can stay at work or return to work with work

restrictions, any work that your employer assigns must meet these restrictions. Your employer may, for

example, change certain tasks, reduce your time on certain tasks, or provide helpful equipment. Or, your

employer may say that work like this is not available¡ªif this happens, you cannot be required to work.

If You Can Work Without Restrictions

If your primary treating physician reports that you can stay at work or return to your job without

restrictions, your employer usually must give you the same job and pay that you had before you were

injured. The employer can require you to take the job. This could happen soon after the injury, or it could

happen much later, after your condition has improved.

My employer assigned work that seems to violate my work restrictions.

What can I do?

You should show the doctor¡¯s work restrictions to your employer and discuss how the restrictions can be

met. You don¡¯t have to accept an assignment that does not meet the restrictions. If you refuse this kind of

assignment, you should clearly explain to your employer how it fails to meet the restrictions. If possible,

do this in writing.

If your employer takes or threatens action against you because you won¡¯t accept this work assignment,

this could be a violation of California Labor Code section 132a, which prohibits discrimination against

injured workers.

If your employer cannot give you work that meets the work restrictions, the claims administrator must pay

temporary total disability benefits (see Chapter 5).

If you have questions or need help, use the resources in Chapter 10. Don¡¯t delay, because there are

deadlines for taking action to protect your rights.

What happens if I don¡¯t fully recover?

Your primary treating physician may determine that you will never be able to return to the same job or

working conditions that you had before you were injured. The doctor should report this in writing. The

report should include permanent work restrictions to protect you from further injury.

To assist your primary treating physician, you and your employer or the claims administrator may jointly

fill out a ¡°Description of Employee¡¯s Job Duties¡± on DWC AD form 10133.33. The doctor can then review

what you wrote on the form to make an appropriate determination.

TD Benefits

If you lose wages

while recovering, you

may be eligible for

temporary disability

(TD) payments. To learn

about these payments,

see Chapter 5.

To review the steps you can take if you disagree with a medical report, see Chapter 4, pp. 15-17 and 20.

A Guidebook for Injured Workers

27

Chapter 6. Working for Your Employer After Injury

Can I return to work for my employer even if I don¡¯t fully recover?

PD Benefits

If your primary

treating physician

reports that you

will never recover

completely, you

may be eligible for

permanent disability

(PD) payments. To

learn about these

payments, see

Chapter 7.

It depends on whether your employer can offer you a suitable job. If not, you may be eligible for other

benefits if you were injured in 2004 or later.

FOR DATES OF INJURY IN 2013 OR LATER

If Your Employer Offers You Work

If you were injured in 2013 or later and your employer can offer you work, the claims administrator must

send you a ¡°Notice of Offer of Regular, Modified, or Alternative Work¡± on DWC-AD form 10133.35. The

claims administrator must send this to you within 60 days after the claims administrator learns you have

a permanent partial disability that has become permanent and stationary, or ¡°P&S¡± (see Chapter 7). Your

primary treating physician or another physician who makes this determination must complete and send

the claims administrator a report of your P&S status and work capacity on DWC-AD form 10133.36.

The offer must be for a job that you are able to perform. In addition, the job must:

? Meet the work restrictions in the doctor¡¯s report

? Last at least 12 months

? Be within a reasonable commuting distance of where you lived at the time of injury.

The offer could involve one of the following:

? Regular work. This is your usual job or position at the time of injury. It must pay the same wages and

benefits that you were paid at the time of injury.

? Modified work. This is your old job with changes that meet the doctor¡¯s work restrictions. It must pay

at least 85 percent of the wages and benefits that you were paid at the time of injury.

Examples: Changing certain tasks, reducing time on certain tasks, changing the workstation, providing

helpful equipment, changing the work location.

? Alternative work. This is work that is different from your old job and meets the doctor¡¯s work

restrictions. It must pay at least 85 percent of the wages and benefits that you were paid at the time of

injury.

If your employer offers you work that meets all of the requirements described above:

? You have only 30 days to accept the offer. If you don¡¯t respond within 30 days, your employer could

withdraw the offer.

? The claims administrator won¡¯t be required to offer you a supplemental job displacement benefit. This

is true whether or not you accept the offer.

If Your Employer Doesn¡¯t Offer You Work

If you were injured in 2013 or later, your employer does not offer you modified or alternative work, and

your injury causes permanent partial disability, the claims administrator must send you a supplemental

job displacement benefit, or ¡°voucher.¡± Permanent disability is discussed in Chapter 7. Supplemental job

displacement benefits are described in Chapter 8.

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Workers¡¯ Compensation in California

Chapter 6. Working for Your Employer After Injury

FOR DATES OF INJURY IN 2004 THROUGH 2012

If Your Employer Offers You Work

If you were injured sometime in 2004 through 2012 and your employer can offer you work, the claims

administrator must send you a ¡°Notice of Offer of Modified or Alternative Work¡± on DWC-AD form

10133.53. The claims administrator must send this to you within 30 days after your final TD payment.

The offer must be for a job that you are able to perform. In addition, the job must:

? Pay at least 85 percent of the wages and benefits that you were paid at the time of injury

? Meet the work restrictions in the doctor¡¯s report

? Last at least 12 months

? Be within a reasonable commuting distance of where you lived at the time of injury.

The offer could involve one of the following:

? Modified work. This is your old job with changes that meet the doctor¡¯s work restrictions.

Examples: Changing certain tasks, reducing time on certain tasks, changing the workstation,

providing helpful equipment, changing the work location.

? Alternative work. This is work that is different from your old job and meets the doctor¡¯s work

restrictions.

If your employer offers you work that meets all of the requirements described above:

? You have only 30 days to accept the offer. If you don¡¯t respond within 30 days, your employer could

withdraw the offer.

? The claims administrator won¡¯t be required to offer you a supplemental job displacement benefit.

This is true whether or not you accept the offer.

If Your Employer Doesn¡¯t Offer You Work

If you were injured sometime in 2004 through 2012, your employer does not offer you modified

or alternative work, you do not return to work for your employer within 60 days after your final TD

payment, and your injury causes permanent partial disability, the claims administrator must send you

a supplemental job displacement benefit, or ¡°voucher.¡± Permanent disability is discussed in Chapter 7.

Supplemental job displacement benefits are described in Chapter 8.

A Guidebook for Injured Workers

29

Chapter 6. Working for Your Employer After Injury

My employer will not offer or assign me the kind of work that I want.

What can I do?

In some cases, the work assigned or offered to you may seem unfair, or your employer may not offer

you any work at all. An employer, however, is not always required to offer you a job that you want. For

example, there may not be any jobs you want that meet the doctor¡¯s work restrictions. Or your employer¡¯s

decision may be justified by business realities.

On the other hand, if the reason your employer will not offer you the work you want is because you

have a job injury or because you requested workers¡¯ compensation benefits, this could be a violation of

California Labor Code section 132a. Similarly, if the reason your employer will not offer you the work you

want is because you have a serious and permanent disability, even though you could do the job with a

reasonable accommodation, this could be a violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). (For information about the interplay between

workers¡¯ compensation and disability rights laws, see Helping Injured Employees Return to Work: Practical

Guidance Under Workers¡¯ Compensation and Disability Rights Laws in California, listed in Chapter 10.)

If you have questions

or need help, use the

resources in Chapter 10.

Don¡¯t delay, because

there are deadlines for

taking action to protect

your rights.

30

If you have questions or need help, use the resources in Chapter 10. Don¡¯t delay, because there are

deadlines for taking action to protect your rights.

Workers¡¯ Compensation in California

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